They are keen to emphasise that the most affordable edition, which is called plain Sonar X3, is not in any way a crippled or 'lite' version of the program. That hasn't changed in X3, but Cakewalk have engaged in something of a rethink of the product range.

Whereas the majority of today's DAWs are available on both Mac and PC, Sonar has always been a Windows-only package. With the launch of X3, it was clearly time I educated myself in the ways of Sonar. Several versions of Sonar have made it onto my hard drive at one time or another, but I've never done more than fire it up, stare at the welcome screen with a heavy heart, and close it again. I've used several other DAWs in the past: mostly Cubase and Pro Tools, but also Samplitude, Reaperand Studio One on occasion. With these caveats in mind, though, I hope there is still something to be gained by reviewing a DAW from the perspective of a new user, because that's exactly what I'll be doing in this article. As a result, once an individual user becomes comfortable with one DAW, it's not easy for that person to evaluate fairly the workings of a new and unfamiliar program. And for another, most DAWs are now so highly evolved that the differences lie less in what features are available than in how they're implemented. For another, every user employs their DAW software in a different way, and the factors that might be crucial for me could be trivial for you. For one thing, these programs are highly complex, and covering all the features of just one of them is a challenge, even in a lengthy review. In the case of modern digital audio workstation software, the reasons are many. SOS readers sometimes ask why we rarely print comparative reviews of products. Does X3 have what it takes to tempt buyers away from other recording software? As well as improving Sonar itself, Cakewalk have brought in some heavy-hitting third-party content.

Cakewalk sonar x3 producer